Coming Together
by Forest Unicorn
Summary: Lily was just looking to learn magic and have a good time. James had a different idea. From first year to seventh, we follow their many arguments and hysterical moments. R&R!Rated T for safety.
1. Humble Beginnings

**A/N: **Yes, I'm back! And I've started this new story so that I can get my mind off my other ones. This one is a bit more elaborative, and I've taken to the habit of updating with longer chapters. Hooray!

* * *

Chapter 1: Humble Beginnings 

Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling however much I want to be. So therefore her characters do not belong to me.

* * *

"Lily! Congratulations on your graduation!" cried Patricia Evans, eagerly snapping photos of her daughter. 

"Mum!" laughed Lily, "It's not that big of a deal, really!"

"You just finished primary school," pointed out Mrs. Evans, "That's a big deal to me!"

"That's my girl!" exclaimed Thomas Evans, "Congratulations dear!"

"Way to go Lily! Now you'll be joining me at the big bad secondary school," smirked Petunia.

Which just made Lily grin wider. The day was June 10, the last day of primary school, and the start of her summer break before she was to join Petunia in secondary school. Boy, life changed fast.

Lily walked out of her school building for the last time, looking back on it with feelings of nostalgia. She had always enjoyed school, but then, it was hard not to when you were the top in your class.

She bid adieu to her friends and walked back with her parents and sister Petunia to the car, where she spent the ride home reminiscing about the many days of her life she had spent in that school.

Lily was a beautiful girl, but it wasn't her looks that made her so. Yes, she had fiery red hair and the most clear and gorgeous emerald green eyes, but that was probably it in the looks department. No, she was beautiful in a different sense, one that was mystifying all in itself. Perhaps it was her graceful demeanor, or maybe it was her innocent smile that reminded everyone of an angel.

Lily was a confident girl, and quickly learned that hard work would lead to success. She was smart, but that still didn't stop her from working as hard as she could. It wasn't that she minded; it was her credo to enjoy what she did.

As Lily lay in her bed that night of her graduation, she felt overcome with a mixture of strange emotions. She thought about her friends and her teachers and her future. She fell asleep with a smile on her face, eagerly anticipating her future.

She was walking down the hallways of her new secondary school. Teachers were greeting her and congratulating her on her exemplary scores on a recent test. Classmates were cheering as she was elected class president. She held her diploma, knowing she had graduated with top honors.

TAP TAP TAP

Lily sat up with a start. She groaned. Was it really only a dream?

TAP TAP

Glancing around the room, she tried to locate the sounds.

"Oh, there's an owl at the window…" she thought sleepily. She rubbed her eyes. "Wait, why is there an _owl_ at my window?"

She jumped out of bed and wrenched open the window, allowing the owl to flutter in and onto her desk. It hooted comfortably, as if it had just finished a long journey. Lily examined the little owl, and it was then that she noticed it was sitting on something. A letter.

* * *

"James! Get down here!" yelled Mr. Potter, "It's already ten in the morning!" 

"Aww Dad! Just one more hour!"

"We need to get shopping today James, no time for sleeping late."

"Fine, coming…"

James trudged down the stairs next to his bedroom, still half asleep.

"Would you like some pancakes James?" asked Mrs. Potter.

"Yes please!" said James immediately, jumping down the last few steps and running into the kitchen.

"Well that certainly got you awake," laughed Mrs. Potter.

James grinned innocently, "You know I love your pancakes."

Mrs. Potter handed over a plate, which James immediately devoured, followed by a tall glass of milk.

Mr. Potter chuckled, "You need to make pancakes more often," he told his wife.

"So, we're going shopping today?" asked James.

"Yes, we need to get some new robes for you."

James sighed. "As long as you don't force me into those yellow ones again."

"That's the spirit!" grinned Mr. Potter, "Now go change, we'll be leaving soon."

James spent the rest of the day in Diagon Alley, being nearly strangled by the measuring tape at Madam Malkin's, eating ice cream, and tagging along with his parents to buy all of his school supplies. When night had fallen, his parents finally declared it time to go home. Exhausted after a long day, James didn't argue. So, after washing up, he flounced on his bed and fell asleep, thinking of his future school.

* * *

"Mum, Dad, wake up!" screamed Lily. 

"Ugh… Lily dear, what's the matter?" groaned Mrs. Evans.

"An owl was at my window last night and it brought me a letter!"

"A letter?"

"Yes Mum, a letter. Here," Lily unfolded the sheet of parchment and gave it to her mum to read.

"Goodness Lily, what does this mean?"

"Mean what?" Mr. Evans woke up too.

"Read this," said Mrs. Evans, handing him the letter.

Mr. Evans scanned through the letter, an expression of curiosity on his face. "What is this supposed to mean?"

"I don't know!" exclaimed Lily, "That's why I'm asking you!"

CRACK!

"What was that?" asked Lily fearfully.

The doorbell rang and Lily's parents got out of bed and went to answer the door.

Lily carefully followed them, still a bit scared.

"Ah hello, you must be Mr. and Mrs. Evans. I'm Professor Dumbledore from Hogwarts."

"Oh, you sent that letter to her?" asked Mrs. Evans, "Erm… Not to be rude, but where _is _Hogwarts? I've never even heard of it before."

"Yes, that's because it is located in a remote location. You see, Hogwarts is a school for witches and wizards. And your daughter here, Lily, is a witch."

"Our daughter?" asked Mr. Evans, exchanging a look with his wife, "is a _witch_?"

"Yes, her name was recorded in our magical registry, so it would appear so."

"But, but, that's unbelievable! Our daughter can't do magic!"

"Ah, but have you ever noticed anything strange happen to her? Things that you couldn't explain?"

"Erm… No, I don't believe…. Oh! Remember Thomas? That time when her teacup started levitating…"

Lily poked her head out from behind her parents.

"There was that one time when that baseball crashed through the window," she added, "I didn't even throw it towards there, I swear!"

"Yes, that is what I'm talking about. Strange instances that seem to have no possible way of happening."

"So our daughter… Is a witch?"

"Yes, and I'm to take her to go shopping for her school supplies."

"So I take it there's no choice whether she's going or not?"

"Well, that's up to Lily to decide."

"I want to go," Lily spoke up, "I want to be able to do magic!"

Dumbledore chuckled, "Of course you do, but it will take plenty of hard work!"

"I don't mind hard work; I do it all the time in school," replied Lily proudly.

"Then we'll take you gladly," exclaimed Dumbledore before turning to Mr. and Mrs. Evans, "Would you like to accompany your daughter to shop?"

"I'll go with you," said Mrs. Evans, "Thomas, you need to stay home and take care of Petunia."

"Alright. Be careful," replied Mr. Evans grudgingly, not wanting to let his wife and daughter wander around a strange place with a strange man.

"And off we go," said Dumbledore, smiling pleasantly.

Lily stood for a moment, taking in his appearance. He looked quite odd; he was wearing what appeared to be purple robes, and his beard was silver and very long. He looked very old and wise and wore half moon-shaped spectacles. But despite his rather strange appearance, Lily liked him. He was really nice.

Exploring Diagon Alley was more fun than Lily had ever had in her entire life. Every step there was something new and exciting to look at, something she had never seen before. There were witches conversing in corners, wizards perusing through books, and even goblins running the bank! It was almost too good to be true.

She got her own robes, her own spell books, her own cauldron, her own _wand_. Though the wand crafter scared her a bit, it was worth it. A wand, a magical wand, all of her own, which she would learn wonders with.

Back at her house that evening, Petunia was all in a fuss, having finally been told why Lily had been gone the whole day.

"How come I never got one of those letters? I want to go too!"

"We don't know Petunia… We're still a bit amazed by this ourselves."

"Well I want to go!" yelled Petunia, even though she knew she sounded childish, "It's not fair! How come she gets new robes and a _wand_?"

"Petunia dear, you always get the new clothes and toys, don't you think Lily deserves something new as well?"

"Fine, _take_ her side. See if I care!" She stomped upstairs, muttering bitterly under her breath.

"Mum, I don't want Petunia to be mad at me…" said Lily, rather shocked.

"Don't worry dear, she'll be ok after a while," reassured Mrs. Evans, getting up to comfort Petunia.

"I sure hope so…"

* * *

**  
A/N: **And so you get a nice glimpse of everyone's life before Hogwarts. Bit of a boring chapter with nothing really interesting, but I promise, it will get better. Please review:)  



	2. Swimming in the Lake

**A/N:** Next chapter's here :D No one reviewed last chapter, so I'm a little down. I hope this chapter will do better:

* * *

Chapter 2: Swimming in the Lake 

Disclaimer: Do I look British to you? None of J. K. Rowling's characters are mine.

* * *

TOOT TOOT 

"Well Lily, it's time!" whispered her mother, embracing her beloved daughter in a warm hug, "Write often!"

"I will Mum," said Lily, "I'll miss you!" she hugged goodbye to her dad and rather annoyed sister before slowly making her way towards the scarlet train with her heavy trunk.

This was it. The moment she had been waiting for since the beginning of this summer when she had first gotten her letter. She knew she would miss her friends, but she had to do this. It was what she was meant to do.

As she struggled to pull her trunk onto the train, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Would you like some help?"

Lily turned to face a nice looking girl with shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes.

Lily nodded, a smile creeping onto her face.

The two girls tugged and the trunk slid onto the floor of the train.

"Phew! Thanks for your help. I'm Lily by the way, Lily Evans."

The girl smiled.

"I'm Krystal Skye. You're welcome to sit in my compartment if you'd like. This would be your first year, right?"

"Yes, and I can't wait! It must be really fun to be able to do magic!"

"Oh good, it's my first year too! I wonder which house I'm going to be sorted in. From what I've heard, Gryffindor is by far the best!"

"We get sorted into houses?" asked Lily blankly.

"Oh, are you muggle-born? I'm half and half myself."

"I guess I am," laughed Lily, "because I don't know what a muggle is!"

Krystal laughed as well.

"Come on, let's go to my compartment. It's awfully boring just standing around."

So Lily followed her new friend, laughing and talking all the while, to her compartment, where the two girls collapsed into giggles just as the train lurched forward.

"Just in time!"

The two girls talked the whole train ride, munching on some sweets they had bought from the cart lady. By the time the sky outside the windows was dark, Lily and Krystal knew each other inside and out. Lily grinned inwardly. How nice it was to have a friend in this strange new world.

---

James Potter sat in his empty compartment trying in vain to read a book.

"Oh, what's the use?" he cried, throwing the book into an empty seat across from him.

The door to the compartment was flung open and a boy came tumbling in. He stood up abruptly, dusted off his robes and grinned goofily.

"Hey, mind if I join you?"

"Sure, no problem," answered James, glad for some company, "James Potter," he said, extending his hand.

The boy shook it.

"Sirius Black. I'm trying to get away from my family. They're nuts."

"Why's that?"

"They're raving about how I'd better get into Slytherin. Annoying gits."

"That's a bit harsh. They are your family after all."

"Not the way they treat me. You know, I hope I don't get in Slytherin. That house is filled with nutters anyway."

James didn't answer. Truth be told, he was extremely nervous about the sorting. What if he should get into Slytherin?

"Well, enough about my family. I'm starving. When's that cart lady coming?"

"Soon, I hope. I could eat a hippogriff."

"Want to play exploding snap?"

"Sure! Been a while since I've played that game."

"Heh, a pumpkin pasty says I win!"

"You're on!"

The door flew open for the second time that day, and this time a rather chubby looking boy hobbled into the compartment.

"Hide me!" he yelped, diving under a seat.

"I think he ran in here!"

A stern-looking fifth year appeared at the door. Lucius Malfoy.

"Where is he?"

Sirius responded.

"Where's who?"

"The kid that just ran in here, that's who. I know he's in here!"

"There's no one here besides us," said James, indicating Sirius and himself, "And if you don't get out of here, we'll be sure to report you to a teacher!"

"Hmph. Very well," sneered Lucius angrily, slamming the door on his way out.

The chubby boy reappeared.

"Phew! I thought he was about to check under the seats."

"What exactly did you do to him?" asked Sirius, "That's Lucius Malfoy, it's not a good idea to mess around with him."

"When the train started up I was walking by him and accidentally trod on his feet. It wasn't intentional, I swear!"

"Anything off the cart dears?"

"Yes, please!" chorused the three boys, diving towards the door.

James, Sirius, and the boy who revealed his name to be Peter Pettigrew ended up spending the rest of the train ride playing exploding snap. And stealing snacks from each other's piles.

---

The train slowly ground to a halt. _Wow…!_

Lily stared out the window excitedly. Who would have thought that Hogwarts was so big? Professor Dumbledore didn't really mention that aspect. Then again, he didn't mention the house sorting either. Or what a muggle was. She had Krystal for that.

"Come on Lily!"

"Wha-?"

Krystal clamped onto Lily's hand and practically dragged her off the train and towards a large man who was swinging a lantern and shouting, "Firs' years! Firs' years o'er here!"

As the group of rather scared looking first years approached him, he pointed them towards a small fleet of boats. Taking the hint, the ones closest towards him scrambled in enthusiastically.

Lily and Krystal crowded into a boat and were followed by three laughing boys. Off they went!

"And so she yelled, 'Sirius Black, if you don't fix this this instant I will personally behead you with a vegetable peeler!'"

Lily felt the boat tip a little. What was going on? Oh dear…

Just as the boys gave an extremely hardy laugh, the boat flipped over, obviously not suited for three rowdy, laughing boys.

Lily couldn't help it. She screamed. Loudly.

And then she was in the frigid waters, struggling to swim in her robes. She somehow made her way back to the overturned boat and used it as a raft, trying to recover from her shock. Next to her, Krystal was doing the same.

It was now that she turned her attention to the three boys that had caused this whole fiasco in the first place. Needless to say, they weren't laughing anymore. They were holding onto the boat, faces rather stunned, as if they didn't believe that a bit of laughter could cause this. Lily rolled her eyes. Why couldn't there be more smart people in the world?

"Oi, wha' happened here?"

It was Hagrid. He asked them all to swim aside for a moment, and with a grunt he flipped the boat right side up again. Shivering, they all clambered back in.

It seems the boys' sense of humor kicked back in.

"That was awesome!" they yelled, high-fiving each other.

Lily couldn't restrain herself. That was the most awful experience she had ever had.

"Ahem," she spoke up, glaring at the boys, "That was most certainly _not_ awesome. In fact, that was the worst experience of my life. If I catch pneumonia, which I almost certainly will, it will all be your fault!"

"What? You can't blame a few guys for wanting to have fun!" retorted the dark-haired one wearing glasses.

"Yeah, lay off!" added the chubby one.

"I just wanted to point out to you _idiots_ that that was most certainly not fun. It scared me half to death, and I definitely don't want to die on the first day of school."

"What, you mean you actually like going to classes?" sniggered the third boy, who had some sort of casual elegance Lily couldn't quite place.

"And you don't?" scoffed Lily, throwing in a death glare for good measure.

That shut them up. The boys looked pointedly away, a look of uneasiness on their faces. This was not a girl to be messed with.

Lily smiled at Krystal, who looked extremely relieved that there wouldn't be any more trouble coming from those three.

"Wow, that was impressive," she whispered with a grin, "Love the death glare!"

"We certainly won't be bothered by those three again."

Unfortunately for Lily, she was terribly mistaken.

---

James was cold. Very cold. But it was supposedly his fault, so he didn't complain too much as he stepped off the boat and walked with his friends to the Great Hall. They were told to line up by a rather stern looking professor. She introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, unrolled a thick scroll, and began calling out names. Slowly, the line began to dwindle as a patched, talking hat sorted the new first years into their respective houses.

"Black, Sirius" was one of the first to be called. The hat stalled for a while before shouting, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Grinning madly, Sirius raced off towards the cheering table decorated with red and gold banners. Looks like he got his wish.

"Evans, Lily" was called up. The red-headed girl who had yelled at him on the boat. She was still sopping wet and looked extremely apprehensive about this whole ordeal. _Oh please don't… _ "GRYFFINDOR!" _… get into Gryffindor. _

"Pettigrew, Peter" was the next of James' friends to be called. "GRYFFINDOR!" was his fate too.

Finally, at long last, "Potter, James," was called out to the Great Hall. James stepped out of line, walked in what he hoped was a confident way up to the stool, and sat down. Professor McGonagall placed the old hat onto his head and then he couldn't see anything; the hat went down past his eyes.

"Well, well, what's this? James Potter. Hmm… I see loyalty aplenty in here. A bit of power too. Ah! That's what we're looking for. Bravery, and a whole trove of it. Better be, GRYFFINDOR!"

That wasn't so bad. He swaggered over to the Gryffindor table, where he joined Sirius and Peter. And that girl… What was her name again? Lily… She was glaring at him, obviously still mad about the boat accident. Eh, what's a guy to do. He would apologize later. Right now, there was food to be eating.

---

Lily turned away as that prat started stuffing his face full of mashed potatoes. How crass could that one get? She glanced at the other boys. Apparently all boys ate the same way: all over the place.

"Lily, aren't you going to eat anything?" asked Krystal, watching her friend.

"Well… I don't- Is that apple pie?"

"Sure is. It tastes so good!"

"Oh, what the heck…"

Lily dug in too. But of course, much more refined than those three boys over there.

Dinner ended with a large bowl of ice cream topped with nuts and a very full stomach. The first years were led up to their respective towers, where they got the chance to explore their beds and common rooms.

"Oi! You there, erm.. Evans!"

Lily turned around and saw that annoying messy-haired boy wearing glasses again.

"What do you want?" she said coldly.

"Well, I was _going_ to apologize, but since you're going to be mean…"

And he turned around and left Lily fuming. That little prat!

Not willing to stoop to his level, she walked up to her dorm with her nose held high.

---

September 1, 11:13 pm 

Dear Diary,

I'm so glad I've got this to write in. Honestly, the first day of school and I already have trouble. My friend Krystal and I were just minding our business in the boats when these three idiots decided to have a good laugh and tip the boat over! The water was freezing, and I had to wear wet robes for the rest of the night. Insufferable gits. Somehow we all managed to get into Gryffindor. What a nightmare.

Anyway, those three. What are their names again? Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James… Potto? Potta? Potty? (Sorry, couldn't resist!) Oh, right, James Potter. They're probably having a good laugh right now in their dorm. They just downright infuriate me! Ok Lily, calm down… Deep breath.

Alright, to help me calm down, I'm going to list some silver linings…

Silver Linings 

-Krystal's in Gryffindor with me

-I didn't catch pneumonia

-I'm not cold anymore

-I loved that food down there at the feast…

And that's it. Ah well… I'll think of some more tomorrow. I'm sleepy now.

Yours,

_Lily Evans_

* * *

**A/N: **That was a longer chapter than I usually write, and I was planning to write a bit more, but I'll leave it to next chapter, which will hopefully be a little bit longer than this one. Please review, it'll get the next chapter up faster and completely make my day! Just click that little button… 


End file.
